Incidence of Injury During Moderate-and High-Intensity Walking Training in the Elderly

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of 26 weeks of moderate- and high-intensity walking training on injury rates in the elderly, 68 healthy volunteers (31 men, 37 women) were assigned to moderate intensity (MOD, n = 26) or high-intensity (HI, n = 24) training, or to a control (CONT, n = 18) group. To achieve prescribed training intensity, many subjects walked uphill on a treadmill. Seven of 50 subjects who trained (14%) suffered a training-related orthopedic injury; one subject was injured during treadmill testing. Four training injuries (lower leg and foot) occurred during weeks 1-13; three training injuries (leg and groin) occurred during weeks 14-26. Six of the injuries were to women. Because only one training injury occurred during uphill treadmill walking, injuries appeared related to fast walking and not exercise intensity. The higher incidence of injury in females is consistent with our earlier work, indicating the importance of further research to determine the underlying cause.

Comparison of energy expenditure from lifestyle physical activities between patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy controls

“…In addition, it was surprising to find that only 32% of RA patients met the recommended threshold for walking and had markedly less weekly energy expenditure from walking compared with controls. Walking is often considered the ideal lifestyle activity because it is low cost, easily accessible, easily integrated into other activities, and is safe with a relatively low risk of injury (21, 43). Given that our analyses were controlled for pain, it is likely that this low rate was not due to physical limitations, but rather to other factors, such as fear of exacerbating RA, habit, and the mindset of avoiding physical activity (12).…”

Effect of low‐load resistance training on the tendon properties in middle‐aged and elderly women

“…In earlier studies, it was found that sports‐related injuries were very common among elderly athletes (Pollock et al. 1991, Carroll et al. 1992).…”

Role of walking-exercise therapy after stroke

“…Typically, protocols use intensities to reach a heart rate goal of 50% and 80% of the heart rate reserve determined by the formula of Karvonen (training HR = %(HRmax -HRrest)). Low-weight bearing activities might be preferred in stroke survivors with reduced ability to bear weight on the paretic leg [33] and increased osteoporosis [34], because they are supposed to produce less injuries [35]. In these patients treadmill training with partial body-weight support [36] or water-based exercise programs may be considered [37].…”